Pulwama erupts over death of ‘human shield’

Violent protests rocked south Kashmir’s Pulwama district after a youth was allegedly killed in crossfire between militants and security forces at Karimpora village on Sunday.

Locals accused the police of making Mushtaq Ahmad a ‘human shield’ during an operation to flush out militants from his village. The police denied the charges saying he was killed in crossfire between its personnel and the militants.

Police said when the security forces started combing the area, militants hiding in a nearby ditch fired on them. Ahmad died after getting trapped in crossfire.

This is the second incident of a civilian death in the last three days. On Friday, a youth was killed by the police when they opened fire on a mob protesting the blockade of a road leading to a Muslim shrine at Yakamanpora village in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Seven people, including four cops, were injured in the incident.

In a separate incident, security forces foiled major terror attacks ahead of Republic Day when they recovered a huge cache of arms from Chak Mamossa village in north Kashmir.

“Militants had dug up a small patch of land and placed two plastic water tanks inside. The tanks were packed with the arms and ammunition, which were to be used to launch attacks on Republic Day. We have averted a major tragedy,” Baramulla SSP Shakeel Beig said.